Yesterday morning the HCB South Tyrol Alperia left Milan-Malpensa Airport to Gothenburg. The Foxes start their first weekend of the Champions Hockey League, in which they are now taking part for the fifth time. Today at 7:00 p.m., there is a duel with four times the Chl winner Frölunda Gothenborg. On Sunday, August 31, at 3:00 p.m. (Italian time), captain Frank and his teammates will be a guest at the Finnish club Lukko Rauma. Both games are transferred live in the pay-per-view stream to iihf.tv.
Frölunda Gothenburg
Thanks to third place in the regular season of the SHL, Frölunda returns to the Champions Hockey League, in which they had regularly participated by 2023 before they left the last two editions. The Swedish team almost dominated the Chl and won four titles between 2016 and 2020. The game does not take place in the Scandinavium (12,000 places), but in the Frölundaborg (6,044 places).
The squad is extremely experienced and is led by captain Max Friberg. The striker has been playing again in Gothenburg since 2017 (after his stay in North America) and has won two CHL titles and a SHL championship with Frölunda. With the Swedish national team, he also won bronze in 2024 and 2025. The 37-year-old Lasse Johansson, one of the best goalkeepers in Europe, stands in goal. With Frölunda he won the Gagarin Cup with ZSKA Moscow in 2019 with Frölunda. In 2024 he was also recognized as the best Swedish goalie.
Head Coach Robert Ohlsson: “Our goal in this CHL is clear: We want the fifth title. Bolzano is an experienced team with an offensive approach and a clearly North American playing style – both because of the players in the squad and because of coach Kleinendorst.”
Lukko Rauma
Lukko secured the Chl participation by winning the regular season of the Liiga. It is the sixth participation for the two -time Finnish masters. There is only one competitive game duel with Bolzano: in 2021, both teams met in the round of 16. At that time, the HCB lost the first leg 1: 3, the second leg could not take place at the Finns due to a covid outbreak-Lukko continued through the preliminary result. On Sunday Bolzano returns to Rauma, where they had already had a training session in 2021. The game is played in front of the 4,500 spectators in the Kivikylän Arena.
In summer, Anti Raanta returned to his hometown after 14 years of absence. The 36-year-old goalie from Rauma completed almost 300 NHL games and played in Switzerland last season at the Genève Servette. Steven Jandric stands out among the five North Americans in the squad: The 28-year-old Canadian came to Rauma in the middle of the 2023/24 season and has scored 77 points in 105 games since then.
Head Coach Tomi Lämsä: “The Chl is exciting because you play against many teams from different leagues. Our goal is to be as successful as possible. Bolzano is a very experienced team with many North Americans and a strong goalkeeper like Sam Harvey, whom we know well.”
HCB South Tyrol Alperia
Coach Kurt Kleinendorst has to do without two players: Defender Jason Seed is in Bolzano for the birth of his second daughter, striker Brad McClure fails with muscle problems. Everyone else is ready for use. Kleinendorst: “Our goal is always to be won. Before a game begins, you never think of a defeat. We want to do our best – no matter against whom. Two big teams are waiting for us in their stadiums. Maybe we are not favorite, but I am not interested in forecast. We want to show the best version of ourselves.”
Chl transmission
All games of the HCB Bozen in the Champions Hockey League are shown live in the pay-per-view stream on iihf.tv.
Prices:
Individual ticket: € 4.50
Monthly pass: € 9.99
Annual pass: € 45
Direct links to the games:
Frölunda Gothenburg – HC Bolzano (29.08., 7:00 p.m.)
https://iihf.tv/paywalls?context=mcksbwiyo2ot~mwuh-tr68~vgzh0uooo
Lukko Rauma – HC Bolzano (August 31, 3:00 p.m.)
https://iihf.tv/paywalls?context=actimqhvlfdi~mwuh-tr68~vgzh0uooo
www.hcb.net, Pic: HC Bolzano
